NASA is setting its sights on a distant 'jellyfish' galaxy
NASA is getting ready to go hunting — not for a white whale, but for a jellyfish.
In a statement released last week, the agency announced its plans to investigate the distant galaxy ESO 137-001 once it launches its James Webb Space Telescope. The galaxy has earned its "jellyfish" nickname from the long "ribbons of young stars" that trail behind it as it makes its way through the cosmos, looking like "cosmic tentacles," NASA explained.
While it makes for a stunning picture, scientists aren't sure what enables the galaxy to form stars in such a manner. It's been a mystery since we first spotted ESO 137-001 using the Hubble Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory in 2014 — which is why, once the Webb telescope launches, it will take a closer look at the mysterious galactic cephalopod.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
With a long trail of newly-forming stars and hot gases that are slowly leaking out of the galaxy, scientists have a rare opportunity to find out what's causing the leak, Space reported. This investigation could give us clues about how new stars form, and whether producing too many new stars can actually cause a galaxy to die.
The James Webb Space Telescope, which has experienced setbacks and delays already, is expected to launch in 2021. It will be able to take photographs of ESO 137-001 with much better resolution, and will observe more wavelengths of light to get more information about the galaxy.
Find out more about the galaxy, and our mission to learn about it, at Space.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Shivani is the editorial assistant at TheWeek.com and has previously written for StreetEasy and Mic.com. A graduate of the physics and journalism departments at NYU, Shivani currently lives in Brooklyn and spends free time cooking, watching TV, and taking too many selfies.
-
'Musk's reliance on China draws rising scrutiny'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Biba: the story of a 'legendary emporium'
The Week Recommends Brand's 60th anniversary is being marked with retrospective celebrating the 'iconic shop's cultural importance'
By Adrienne Wyper, The Week UK Published
-
How the Russia-Ukraine conflict has spread to Africa
The Explainer Ukraine is attempting to strengthen its alliances on the continent to counter Russia's growing presence
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescue
Speed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in Morocco
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female president
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. says
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprising
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published